Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 40mm Bluetooth Smartwatch with ECG Heart Monitor, Tracker for Health, Fitness, Running, Sleep Tracking, GPS Fall Detection, US Version, SM-R860NZKAXAA, Black

I decided to upgrade from a fitness band/watch garmin device to this smart watch. I know there are about 3 subsequent versions of this, but mine still works very well after over 2 years.Positives:- I like being able to see at least part of incoming text messages so I can decide if I need to pull out my phone to read them on a larger screen.- The do-not-disturb feature is very helpful in muting text messages when I can't afford interruptions- I do like the variety of fitness tracking options, as well as health and sleep- The battery life is still pretty good even after several yearsNegatives/downsides:- I still find it hard to cancel notifications rather than just snooze them (the swipe to clear feature doesn't always work--could be the screen protector I use)- It took me a while to realize that having the watch on DND means that calls won't go through on my phone even if the volume is on for that device- Battery does have to be charged each night, which limits the usability for sleep tracking (unless I charge it earlier and then can't track activity/steps)Overall still a quality device and I haven't been compelled to upgrade yet.

Love the color. Bams is perfect, even for my very small wrists. Connects to my phone with no issues. I do wish the battery lasted a little longer. Seems to track activity accurately.

This is my 3rd "Smart Watch". My 1st was a Garmin which was very basic and bought by my wife. I was an avid runner and that was the Garmin's main intended purpose. However, shortly after receiving it, I had to give up running due to prolonged issues with my hip. So, it became a very expensive heart rate monitor - a function at which it excelled. My 2nd watch was a Fossil watch which was an impulse buy. It was visually attractive but excelled at nothing else. It sits on my bedside table and is rarely worn - poor integration with my phone and poor battery life make it slightly better than useless. [A cautionary tale against impulse buying.] I have been hesitant to pull the trigger on a more expensive smart watch but I lost the Garmin watch and really missed having a continuous HR monitor when I exercised. I am an old dude but my fitness is very important and HR zone targets have a proven benefit. It also keeps me on track in the gym. Well, I saw the "renewed" version of this watch, and the price point made it an almost painless proposition to give it a try. So far I love it. I have a collection of watches and usually rotate them for work but since buying this watch all of my other watches are collecting dust. The setup was painless. I have begun using an exercise app that has a continuous HR monitor and workout timer. This is the feature that is most important to me but I love playing with the other features. I emphasize "playing" because none of the other features are terribly important to me - they are merely novelties. But over time I feel some of the features will become second nature. I love being able to see my messages on the watch while at work but with Android I can just as easily see my messages on my laptop while at work [can't do that with Apple!]. Overall, a solid watch. MAJOR CON: battery life. Given the small footprint of this watch, and all that it is doing in the background, I feel a bit like an entitled brat complaining about the battery life but, if I could change one thing, that would definitely be it.

I am a fan of smart watches, over the years I have had a Pebble, then a progression of Samsungs-- Gear Fit, Gear Fit Pro, Gear Sport, and Active2. Before smart watches I was a collector of mid-tier mechanical watches, attracted to watch faces that I liked. (Looking at you Lum-Tec!).Smart watches did not attract me for fitness tracking, but rather for the multitude of available watch faces. Truth be told, I do like the form factor of apple watches, but the 24-hour battery life and needing an iphone are reasons I originally decided to steer towards Samsung. My primary uses are for call / text notifications, Ring door alarms, exercise and sleep monitors, and timers/alarms. Much has been written about Samsung watches, and based on Amazon comments there seems to be a love-hate relationship with the Watch 4, so I am just going to limit my comments to a couple of points.First, battery life. I was happy with the Active2. Battery life with both the prior Active2 and this new Galaxy Watch 4 is OK, not great, for me, usually 2-3 days...The initial setup scheme, unlike the Active2, showed less than 24 hours use from 100 to 12%--so I understand where "poor battery" comments come from. Over time and charging cycles, dependent on the selected watch face, along with power saving tips, I can get a solid 3 days.Power saving tips. AOD “Always on” needs to be OFF, display set to 10 seconds, wrist flick screen OFF, HR measurements set to every 10 minutes except during daily exercise sessions, snore detection and blood oxygen at night need to be OFF, Wireless OFF, NFT toggled OFF. I also found that some settings were set to off, but actually on (blood O2 at night, set to off, but running at night. I had to reset the watch?). Battery life could be much better, Samsung really needs to look at how they implement defaults that consume power considering the vast number of comments that complain about short battery life.Second, initial setup. With the Samsung Gear app already installed on my pixel 4a 5G phone, set-up was easy with a switchover from my Active2. Most of my prior Active2 settings were carried over with the exception of NFT toggled back on, and a required update of the Samsung Health app to show my default exercises.Third, a new marketplace. My most frustrating moment was the fact that previously purchased watch faces are not carried over due to the switch to Wear OS, and away from Tizen. Samsung Marketplace is no longer used for Watch 4. Oh well. There are plenty of options from google play (add watch face to searches) and from Facer. Be aware, increasing the number of complications, animations, and colorful backgrounds seems to noticeably hit battery life. As indicated, I have found a number of preset options that give me a solid 3 days of battery life, with the power saving hints above in play.As for watch operation, it is all very familiar to me. I am learning the new operating system and menu. A positive surprise was a totally flat face allowing the use of glass screen protectors, very easily positioned and attached. The Active2 had a curved edge making the install of screen protectors more challenging and less durable along that same edge. I also like the design of the watch band, which sits mostly flush against the curved case, maybe following a styling cue from apple.If, like me, you had a prior Samsung watch, this is technically an "upgrade"--but lots of adjustments need to be made to obtain good battery life, and some operational issues persist. With the current deal it might be worth a try. IMO, Samsung still has some firmware work to do.